


Space Bar

by duchess_of_brighton



Series: Aftermath [1]
Category: Strike Back
Genre: Canon Bisexual Character, Chetri deserved better, Coming Out, F/F, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Strong Female Characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 09:34:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25468612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duchess_of_brighton/pseuds/duchess_of_brighton
Summary: After losing a friend, Novin and Chetri find comfort in each other.
Relationships: Gracie Novin/Chetri
Series: Aftermath [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1844803
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	Space Bar

**Author's Note:**

> I was kind of pissed at how things ended for Chetri. So I gave her a night to remember before everything goes to shit.

It's a few days since they lost Mac, and it feels like she's still in shock. The look on Novin's face mirrors her own, a kind of numb disbelief. They started drinking because... actually, she doesn't remember why they started, it was probably because Mac's dead. That's a good reason. But they stopped drinking a while ago, and now they're just sitting on a sagging couch in an otherwise empty, stale smelling room in an abandoned building - she spends her life in abandoned buildings these days, it feels like - and the broken springs of the couch mean that they've kind of fallen into the middle, fallen into each other, and she can feel the warmth of Gracie's body all the way down the left side of her own. 

She doesn't know if it was herself or Gracie who turned their head first, but they're forehead to forehead now. Novin's skin is smooth and cool against hers, and she closes her eyes, letting a few of the tears that have been permanently trembling on her lashes for the last few days fall down her cheeks.   
"S'alright." Gracie's breath smells slightly of whisky as it tickles her cheek.  
She shakes her head slightly, her skin sliding against Novin's, and when their mouths brush together, she's not sure if it's an accident or something one or both of them intended.

"Space Bar..." Gracie's lips are against hers as she breathes the words, and this time it's definitely a decision; she kisses her, and after a second's hesitation, Gracie kisses her right back, and then takes control, her hand coming up to trace Chetri's cheekbone, making her shiver with something she can't name, as Novin's tongue explores her mouth. Her skin feels like it catches fire, her chest pressing into Gracie's as she slides her tongue against hers and lets her hand come to rest on the other lance corporal's thigh. Gracie makes a little noise in her throat, and Chetri realises that that's because of her, that she caused that, and that's what gives her the courage to press Gracie back into the flattened couch cushions as the kiss gets deeper.

Because she suddenly understands. This is what it's supposed to feel like. She knows Gracie doesn't rest on one side or the other, that she sleeps with who she sleeps with, and gender doesn't come into it. But right now, as Chetri kisses another woman for the first time, it's like everything finally makes sense. And as soon as she realises that, her hands are everywhere. She explores the planes and curves of Gracie's body over her clothes, and feels Gracie's fingers pressing into her spine, pulling her even closer. 

"We should go somewhere less public." Novin murmurs, when Chetri releases her mouth to kiss the column of her throat instead, "Wyatt and the boss-"  
Chetri raises her head, drunk with realisation and want, and meets Gracie's eyes. She sees want there too, and just a hint of something like hesitation.  
"Yes." She says firmly, and Gracie's mouth curves into a smile that matches her own.  
"Sure about this, Space Bar?"  
"Yes."

For all her certainty, a bed is more intimidating than a couch, even if the bed is really a pile of blankets and lumpy pillows on a dusty wooden floor. But once she starts kissing Gracie again, she almost forgets about that. Her hand strays under Gracie's shirt for the first time, just touching the surprisingly soft skin of her lower back, and suddenly she wants to touch her everywhere. Novin reaches under Chetri's own shirt, her hand stroking along her side, settling in the bare curve of her waist, and the flood of heat between her legs from that simple touch makes her gasp. 

Even though they aren't talking about it, she still knows Novin won't push the agenda. It'll be up to her to ask for more, to take things further. It's scary and exciting at the same time to have that kind of power over the situation. She takes a deep breath around the edge of their never-ending kiss - God, she doesn't ever want it to end - and pushes Gracie's shirt upwards, making her intention clear.   
"Yeah?" Gracie checks against her mouth, before immediately kissing her again.  
She just nods, sucking on Novin's lower lip.  
Gracie uses her hands on Chetri's face to break the kiss this time. "Take your top off, Space Bar. And anything else you like." She grins.  
"You, too." Chetri demands, trying to stop her voice from trembling, not with nerves but with anticipation.

She doesn't have to ask twice. Gracie pulls her shirt over her head - she isn't wearing a bra - and shucks off her pants, laying back on the blankets in just her boyshort panties. Chetri isn't quite as relaxed in her body as Novin, but she wants this enough to override any negative thoughts, so she copies Gracie and sheds her pants and shirt, only hesitating when she reaches for the clasp of her bra.   
"Always thought you were cute, Space Bar, but fuck..." Gracie's hands close on her waist, her thumbs tantalisingly close to her breasts, and that's all the convincing she needs to lose the bra, and then they fall back into that kiss, those kisses, that she just wants to last forever. 

She's so turned on, her skin hypersensitive to Gracie's touch, the ache between her legs growing more demanding by the minute. She wonders if it's the same for Novin, or if her greater experience means she doesn't feel as out of control. They're both more vocal now that they're in a more private setting, Gracie's moans mixing with the little whimpers Chetri can't hold back every time Gracie even comes close to touching her breasts, but she still wonders... and then she glances down and sees the darker patch on the front of Novin's underwear, and realises that Gracie is wet, for her. And in that moment she feels a surge of arousal and an overwhelming desire to create that same feeling in Gracie.

Her hand reaches Novin's hip, her thumb just edging inside the elastic at the top of her panties, and then she hesitates. What if she doesn't know how to-  
"Hey," Gracie says softly, and Chetri looks at her, "Anything that feels good to you when you're doing it to yourself, that's probably going to feel really fucking good when you do it to me. Okay?"   
Chetri slides her hand inside Gracie's underwear, feeling gently for familiar landmarks, and immediately finding slick heat. Gracie's groan as she circles a fingertip on the hard ball of her clit might just be the best sound Chetri's ever heard. 

She manages to still kiss Novin while she strokes her, maybe not as deeply or as elegantly, but their lips still meet, their tongues brush, and she swallows Gracie's moans with almost incredulous joy.   
"Space- Chetri-" Gracie's suddenly panting, and Chetri realises that she's on the edge, that she's about to come, and that makes her own centre contract with need. She kisses Gracie's neck as the Australian's body arches, her head tipping back, and instinctively gentles her fingers, keeping just enough pressure to draw out Gracie's climax.

"Fuck me, Space Bar. How'd you get so good at that?" Gracie's breathing is still a little fast, her skin flushed.   
"Must be all that typing..." Chetri grins down at her, lightheaded with happiness and pride, and arousal, and just being here, right now, being with a woman in this way and feeling so good.  
Gracie chuckles, and lifts her head to plant another long slow kiss on Chetri's lips. "My turn," She says, when she finally releases her.   
She's so strong, Gracie. She lifts and flips Chetri like she weighs nothing, and suddenly she's laying above her, stroking her hair back as she kisses her again. In the past, with men, Chetri's been quick to demur, to insist that they don't need to worry about her pleasure. She's not doing that now. She's desperate to be touched, she's desperate to come.

Gracie slides down the makeshift bed, her fingers hooking into the sides of Chetri's panties and pulling them down her legs. The cool air meeting hot flesh makes Chetri whine, and she swears Gracie chuckles again before her warm mouth creates a whole new raft of sensations as she delves between Chetri's legs with her tongue.

She can hardly breathe, it's like her whole body is thrumming, and she's strung so tight that it's almost painful. Gracie doesn't go easy, and a dry sob escapes Chetri's lips as she realises that it's going to happen, that she's going to come on Gracie's tongue, and then she's losing control, her hands grasping instinctively at Novin's hair as her climax rips through her, tightening every muscle in her body and forcing a half scream from her mouth. She collapses back onto the blankets, breathing hard, and then a bubble of laughter wells up from her chest.

"What's so funny?" Gracie flops down beside her, and Chetri rolls onto her side so that they're face to face.   
"I just..." She overtaken by another burst of laughter, "I've never..." She lunges forward and kisses Gracie, and even as she does so, she knows it's probably the last time. "I didn't realise." She settles on, when she reluctantly releases Novin's lips.   
Gracie cups her cheek, "You know it doesn't have to mean anything big, right?"  
"It does, though, for me." She sees the look in Gracie's eyes and quickly explains herself. "I'm not going to start following you around like a puppy. I know what this was. But now I know that I..." It's like she runs out of breath.  
"Like women." Novin supplies, "Nothing wrong with that, Space Bar.   
"I know." She feels a flutter of nerves in her chest, nonetheless. But then she lets herself savour the sensations and the pleasure and the rightness of the last... Was it minutes? Hours? In a way, she'd believe she and Gracie had been tangled up together for days. And she smiles. 

"I know we won't do this again." She says, because she thinks Gracie needs to know she understands that. "But-"  
"Hey." Gracie's voice is quite gentle, "C'mere." She pulls Chetri close, kisses her, and then settles back onto the blankets, keeping her arm around her so that Chetri's head comes to rest on her shoulder. "Stop thinking so much, Space Bar."   
It's comforting, even though the chemistry between them has already changed. They're not lovers anymore, won't be again, but for the first time, Chetri feels something like an equal, a friend maybe.   
"You know," Gracie tells her, her voice thick with tiredness, "Next time we're in Vienna, I'm going to take you to this bar..."  
Chetri smiles to herself in the darkness as Gracie's light snores confirm she's fallen asleep. She's envied that ability to sleep anytime, anywhere, that the more seasoned members of 20 have. Maybe she'll develop it in time. 

And so she rests in the circle of Gracie's arm, naked and replete, her thighs still sticky with cum and kisses, and reimagines her life from here on out. And it feels good.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed, let me know what you think! DoB x


End file.
